26 SEPTEMBER 2017

Vazquez Wins Texas State Title

Vazquez and Smith battle in Arlington

After a short hiatus due to a hand injury, Hector “El Diamante” Vazquez, 10-1-(2), of Irving, Texas came back into the ring for the first time to win the Texas State Super Welterweight Title over Larry “Slomoshun” Smith, 10-17-(7), of Dallas Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.

Smith entered the ring with a local rapper and lots of Larry Smith drama appeal only to be followed by Vazquez and a full mariachi band that brought the crowd to their feet. The fight, which went the entire 8 rounds was closer than many expected, but Vasquez, the favorite, was still able to get the win. Vazquez really turned it on in the third round with multiple punch combinations that started to take Smith out of his rhythm. A determined Smith hung in there to the end but the rest of the fight was clearly in Vazquez’s favor. The judges unanimously scored in Vazquez’s favor with 2 judges scoring the bout 80-72 and the third scoring it at 79-73.

“I am ready now to move forward to achieve my goal of winning a world title. I plan to stay in the gym after this one to get ready to return to the ring on October 12, 2013 at Bud Light Pro Fight #5 here at COWBOYS in Arlington, TX once again,” said an excited Vazquez about his Texas Title win.

Dustin Haney, owner of Standing 8 Promotions and promoter of fighter Hector Vazquez, called the win “a glimpse of what is to come from Standing 8 boxers and a representation of the caliber of the boxers, fights, and events that Standing 8 Promotions continues to work towards.”

Bud Light Pro Fight #4 attendees also saw emerging, top Fort Worth prospect Juan Antonio (Tony) Lopez move to 6-0 and 3 KO’s with an extreme overhand left knockout against battle tested Ricardo Valencia of Houston in a 6 round contest. A media favorite with a large following, Lopez entered the contest to the strong vocal support of attendees. Valencia did not pay attention to the crowd and pressed in towards the action. Lopez countered the forward moving Valencia while defending against body shots and straight rights. Valencia seemed to pick up momentum in the third round until the counter overhand left from Lopez ended things at the end of the third.

Lopez said of the fight “Valencia is a tough guy. I am happy with my performance. I look forward to returning in October to Bud Light Pro Fight #4 to another challenge”.

Vasquez and Smith get tangled up in Arlington

Perks of the Jobs for Vasquez

In another great fight of the night, Kendo Castaneda 5-0 1 KO of San Antonio out boxed the always game Alexander Lopez 6-6 of Fort Worth over four rounds. Kendo “Tremendo” Castaneda beat the always tough Alex Lopez, who was fighting in front of his home crowd. San Antonio “Pride of the West Side” Kendo was able dominate all four rounds despite cheering from Lopez’s local fans.

Another fan favorite, Carrolton, Super Middleweight Mike “Italian Stallion” Tufariello, who made his pro debut in a “Rocky” kind of way at 38 years old, moved to 2-0 with 2 KO’s with a third round TKO over Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Chris Barnes. James DeHerrera moved to 3-0 3 KO’s with a wild and exciting third TKO over capable Kashif Solarin 0-1 of Fort Worth.

Ann Wolfe trained Travelle Maison moved to 3-0 3 KO’s with an impressive first round TKO of Terrance Roy 9-37 of Atlanta, GA. The bout was stopped by the referee after Terrance Roy suffered 6 knockdowns. In the opening contest, Martinez Porter 1-3-3 battled fellow Arlington resident Errol Sidney 1-1-2 in to a four round draw.